Realignment: 2 Samuel 7:18-29
Life is easier when our focus is on the right spot. When the randomness of life happens, we can get caught up in chaos. When we have a brilliant idea, we can get enthralled by our own genius. Whether we are in the mountain or the valley or somewhere inbetween, it is important to not let our circumstance take our focus away from God.
David receives Nathan’s message. He doesn’t put up an argument. He doesn’t chafe at correction. David receives and honors God.
As much as David acted without consideration for God’s wishes over the last several chapters, it isn’t about the quantity of sin. We cannot out-sin God’s forgiveness. There is no upper threshold we cross to find ourselves in an unredeemable situation. God is always willing to forgive our past transgression if our hearts are genuinely repentant.
This is why David is an interesting figure in the Olt Testament. David constantly flows between repentance, living in holiness, and slipping into sin. In the throes of his sin, repentance is only a single conviction away. In the glory of holiness, sin is crouching at the door waiting to drag him back into sin. Like us, David never figures it out and becomes perfect for the rest of his life. He is always sinning and being called back into repentance.
What makes David a unique specimen is how he doesn’t fight repentance. He offers no argument to Nathan, even though Nathan told David not to build the temple and then told him to check his pride. David doesn’t get defensive, he doesn’t get hostile, and he doesn’t even complain. David hears from God and humbles himself. David knows his place. Although he may stray outside of God’s plan, he doesn’t mind being brought back in line.
To realign himself to God, David focuses on God’s glory. There is no one like God. We are fortunate to be in relationship with our unique God who redeems us. it is great to even receive a message from God, even if the message is correction and rebuke. God blesses His servants, not the other way around.
David transitions from sinfulness to holiness by focusing on God. It is easy to let go of sin when we focus upon God. It is easy to receive God’s grace when we focus on God’s greatness and not our depravity. It is easy to repent and align ourselves with the Creator when our attention is on His work instead of our own.
David demonstrates how easy faith can be when we take our focus off ourselves. This lesson is poignant because this is the very sin David struggled with over the past few chapters. David fell into sin by forgetting to focus on God’s will and assuming God’s will aligned to his own. When he shifts back to focusing on God, he naturally realigns with God. Life is easier when our focus is on the right spot.
